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Crap. I just spent over an hour detailing how I worked out substituting challenged attack rolls for some of the feats I considered wasted space, how I jacked up the number of skills available to a fighter and how I altered skill lists to make a much more intensive list for most of the classes, without jamming things up or getting really obscure, but the preview post button ate it.
There is no reason whatsoever for a game mechanic to limit a fighter to being good only on the field of battle. The things I mentioned above were implemnetation I began making in the late 80's to my own campaigns that seemed to work well. Play balance was maintianed. The fighter remained important for more than just kicking in the door the thief wasn't sure was trapped. He didn't get completely snowed under in body parts when the barabarian was cut loose next to him, and he was seldom ever the one that needed the heal spells the most.
I have always loved the fighter character class. I have made some that were straight out of the king's army and were generally sticks in the mud until the game developed them into "normal" people and I have played a Half-devil gladiator that was a combat version of the bard's entertainment skills and frequently only wore a set of bracers and greaves as armor. (Got to love armor optimization as my group read it for 2nd ed.) I have been the poor lost kid who's single parent was the town sheriff brutally murdered by passing banditsand became one of the lands most sung about heroes. I have been a similar kid that became something far more feared, but still accomplished the same goal inthe end: avenge the fallen.
The lack of skills outside of combat, and the sheer vastness of what I deem useless feats has made made Fighters pretty shaky. I don't think they need "powers". They need more guts. They don't need maneuvers. They need more freedom in what can be accomplished in a fight without feats.